CHICAGO — A 33-year-old man was shot in a drive-by as he stood near the Willye B. White Park fieldhouse in Rogers Park last night, according to Chicago police. He is the second person to be shot in or near the park since May 22.
Police said he was on a sidewalk in the 1600 block of West Howard when the gunman fired shots from a gray SUV. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital with gunshot wounds to his hip and buttocks.
Officers operating CPD’s surveillance cameras in the area reported seeing a group flee through the park after the shooting, including a man in a dark hoodie and black pants who was holding a gun, according to police radio transmissions. No arrests have been announced.
On May 22, a 19-year-old woman was shot in the chest and abdomen while walking in the park around 10:18 p.m.
The victim, a Northwestern University student, was walking with a companion when the shots were fired, Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) said in a Facebook post last month. They were not the intended targets, according to Hadden.
On November 9, a 48-year-old man was shot in the foot as he stood on a sidewalk near Willye White Park. Police said a gunman approached the victim, fired shots, and fled the scene. Initial indications from the scene were that the victim knew the gunman.
On February 13, a 31-year-old man was shot in a drive-by across the street from the park. The victim was walking when a gunman rolled up in a dark vehicle and fired shots from the car, striking the man in his left calf, police said at the time.
So far this year, 16 people have been shot in Rogers Park, including a 2-year-old girl who accidentally shot herself in the hand in the 1500 block of West Jonquil Terrace on May 28.
There were 12 people shot in the neighborhood at this point last year, including one man who was shot in self-defense. In 2021, there were ten shooting victims as of June 10.
Among other recent shootings in the neighborhood:
- A 28-year-old man was critically injured by a gunman at Loyola Park on April 13. Police said a dark sedan pulled into the park’s parking lot at Sheridan and Touhy and someone opened fire on the victim from the car.
- Also on April 13, a 33-year-old man was shot in the foot when a drive-by gunman opened fire in the 1400 block of West Arthur.
- On April 6, a 33-year-old man was shot in the 7600 block of North Sheridan. Police said the man was shot while walking, but a witness reported that the man was hiding behind a dumpster when a woman shot him.
- A 20-year-old woman received a graze wound to her back while walking up the stairs of an apartment building in the 1300 block of West Columbia on March 29.
- A 23-year-old man was shot in the 1500 block of West Jonquil Terrace on March 26.
- A 57-year-old man was shot while sitting in a car in the 7300 block of North Greenview on March 25.
- Quentin Pruett, 45, of Madison, Wisconsin, was shot and killed during a home invasion in the 7600 block of North Sheridan on March 21. His family believes he was not the intended target.
On March 3, a 37-year-old man was found fatally shot inside an apartment in the 7500 block of North Damen. Police initially detained a woman inside the apartment, but she was later released.
Investigators did not find a gun at the scene, which made them suspicious of the woman’s claims that the man had shot himself.
This month, the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined that the man did indeed die by suicide.